Skip to main content
MMA
Final Tue, Sep 29UFCGeorge Staines (winner)vsLoai AbushaarFinal Sat, Oct 3UFCNatalia Silva (winner)vsWang CongFinal Tue, Oct 6UFCPreston LaGrange (winner)vsNell ArianoSat, Oct 10 5:00 PM PTUFCBrendan AllenvsChristian Leroy DuncanTue, Oct 13 4:00 PM PTUFCIlias BulaidvsErick ViscondeFri, Oct 16 8:00 PM PTPFLLiz CarmouchevsJena BishopSat, Oct 17 5:00 PM PTUFCMike MalottvsJoaquin BuckleySat, Oct 24 11:00 AM PTUFCAlexander VolkanovskivsMovsar EvloevSat, Oct 31 5:00 PM PTUFCRenato MoicanovsTom Nolan
The Feed

Open Scoring MMA, 2026-10-08

Sean Strickland's pay war with the UFC boils over into a PI confrontation while new flyweight champ Natalia Silva puts Valentina Shevchenko on notice.

Open Scoring MMA, 2026-10-08

🎧 Listen to this episode

Listen: Open Scoring MMA on Spotify or in any podcast app via our RSS feed.

Title drama dominates the day's headlines, from Strickland's threats to walk away from the UFC to Natalia Silva drawing a line in the sand with Valentina Shevchenko. Elsewhere, UFC 332 fallout continues to shape the promotion's next moves.

Sources

Every source behind today's roundup (34)

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

Open Scoring MMA is a daily AI-produced MMA and UFC news podcast. Listen to today's episode, read the full Feed, or get every episode by email.

Episode transcript

Read the full episode transcript

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 112 for October 8th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Natalia Silva just won the flyweight belt and she's already got a message for Valentina Shevchenko: get in line.
NORA: This stems from Shevchenko congratulating Silva after she beat Wang Cong by unanimous decision this past Saturday to become champion and improve to nine and oh.
DUKE: Nine and oh, unbeaten, brand new champ, and Shevchenko basically tried to fast track herself right back into a title shot in that same breath.
NORA: Right, she literally told Shevchenko to get in line, and that's more than a soundbite. It directly contradicts an assurance the UFC reportedly already gave Shevchenko about getting straight back into title contention.
DUKE: Get in line. That's a cold way to greet the woman who used to hold that belt.
NORA: It's also smart. Silva's one fight into her reign, she can't let the promotion hand Shevchenko an automatic rematch slot before she's even defended once.
DUKE: And fans on X are already fired up about this, that clapback clip is getting shared everywhere.
NORA: It's a legitimate succession fight at one hundred twenty five. Shevchenko's still a massive name at the weight, but Silva's exactly right that beating Wang Cong doesn't owe anybody a crown.
DUKE: She also addressed Wang's eye poke claim and Dana White's read on the fight itself, so there's a lot still simmering out of that main event.
NORA: There is, but the headline is simple: new champ, zero patience for entitlement.
DUKE: Now on to the card news. UFC 335 is shaping up in a big way, with Diego Lopes revealing his status has completely changed since getting that fight.
NORA: He's headlining UFC 335 on December twelfth in Las Vegas against Charles Oliveira for the BMF belt, and Lopes says this has opened up new financial opportunities for him.
DUKE: And he's pushing back on anyone who thinks he didn't earn the spot. He told Ariel Helwani the people doubting him are just envious.
NORA: Lopes also revealed he was actually ready for a Dan Hooker fight before the Oliveira offer came in, this will be his actual lightweight debut after two shots at the featherweight title.
DUKE: That's a massive jump, two featherweight title fights and now straight into a BMF fight with Do Bronx at one fifty five.
NORA: Robert Whittaker's weighed in too, picking the tougher fighter to win that one, which tells you even former champs see the Lopes vs. Oliveira fight as a real toss up, not a mismatch.
DUKE: Elsewhere, PFL keeps stacking its Lyon card, adding Brandon Brachet versus Adam Meskini at featherweight for December nineteenth.
NORA: Good depth add, nothing seismic, but PFL's building that French card out piece by piece. Two former UFC lightweight staples, both making their RAF debuts in the same bout, inside NOW Arena.
DUKE: Goofy matchmaking, sure, but Cerrone versus Pettis still moves eyeballs no matter the discipline.
NORA: It really does.
DUKE: Now on to the fighter news. Zabit Magomedsharipov is apparently not done either, he's signed with RAF for a wrestling debut.
NORA: One of the most talented, most enigmatic guys to ever pass through the UFC roster, and now Zabit Magomedsharipov's got an opponent lined up, an ex UFC fighter, for that debut.
DUKE: It's wild to even type that sentence, Zabit back in any kind of competition.
NORA: His UFC run ended early due to health issues, so any return, even in freestyle wrestling, is notable just as a sign he's competing again.
DUKE: And on a lighter note, Niko Price is apparently wearing the Venom Camo shorts, the ones usually reserved for Bryce Mitchell, for his finale fight this weekend.
NORA: Small detail, but that's the kind of gear swap that gets the whole locker room talking before fight night even starts.
DUKE: Now on to the callouts, and this one's got layers. Jake Paul sent a message to Sean Strickland right in the middle of Strickland's own pay dispute with the UFC.
NORA: Paul straight up asked about Strickland's contract status, listing him among a pile of names he wants to fight, boxing and MMA.
DUKE: And Strickland's fired right back at the UFC separately, saying he's considering fighting out his contract.
NORA: He's threatened to move up to light heavyweight, and burn through his contract. His own words were that he's, quote, kinda over it, end quote.
DUKE: That's a former champion talking about walking away from the UFC for money fights outside the cage. That's not nothing.
NORA: It isn't. If he actually leaves, that division blows wide open, and the UFC loses a former champ to a Jake Paul style money fight.
DUKE: Speaking of chaos, Nassourdine Imavov literally confronted Sean Strickland at the UFC Performance Institute over an unsigned title fight.
NORA: Multiple angles of this video are floating around, security had to restrain Imavov as he ran after Strickland in the gym.
DUKE: That's a title challenger chasing the former champ down in real life because the paperwork for the fight isn't signed.
NORA: And Strickland's response was blunt, he called it the, quote, definition of cringe, end quote.
DUKE: Imagine building your whole case for a title shot and the former champ just calls it cringe to your face.
NORA: It does undercut Imavov's pressure campaign a little, but it also shows just how unresolved that match up still is.
DUKE: So you've got Strickland threatening to leave, Imavov demanding the signed fight, and Jake Paul sliding into the mix. That division's a mess right now.
NORA: A profitable mess for Strickland either way.
DUKE: Elsewhere in the callout world, Dricus du Plessis says he's open to a trilogy with Roberto Soldic following Soldic's UFC debut. Du Plessis doesn't throw praise around like that for nobody, that's real respect for Soldic as a striker.
NORA: It also signals Du Plessis sees him as a live threat in that middleweight picture going forward, not just a crossover curiosity.
DUKE: And Johnny Walker's calling out a name after his explosive UFC 332 heavyweight debut.
NORA: He stopped Mick Parkin and now wants Marcin Tybura next, a proven veteran gatekeeper at heavyweight.
DUKE: Smart move, beat Tybura and Walker's instantly a real name in that division, not just a light heavyweight curiosity moving up.
NORA: And his brother Valter Walker is already acting as a self appointed bodyguard, responding online to a rival's challenge aimed at Johnny.
DUKE: The Walker brothers as a tag team in the heavyweight rankings, that's a storyline all its own.
NORA: It really is, and Valter's clearly not going to let anyone take shots at Johnny without firing back himself.
DUKE: Last one in this segment, Esteban Ribovics says King Green's team tried to bully him before UFC 332.
NORA: He's called that win over Green the most satisfying of his career, which tells you how personal that build up got.
One more thing before we go. Strickland's threatening to leave the UFC for a Jake Paul money fight while Imavov's chasing him around the gym. Does he fight Imavov next, or walk away from the UFC first? And while you're here, two quick ones. Our free Fight Tracker is at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.